Justice League (Volume 3) #17 Written by Bryan Hitch Art by Feranando Pasarin

The latest issue of Superman made it seem like the New 52 Superman and our Superman were really the same being split in two but this issue has Tempus saying that our Superman is an anomyly. I wonder how this fits together. I just realized that the latest issue of Superman seems to be playing on the Superman-Red (New 52) and Superman-Blue motif. That’s cool! Anyways, on to this actual comic book I am reviewing. I love how intricately connected all these books are. The editors are doing a stand up job (except for the Aquaman book and its crazy Atlantis destroys half of Boston but it is not mentioned in any other comic crap) as Wonder Woman and Superman’s going ons in their respective solo books are referenced here. And this issue is representative of what this series should have been from the start – epic Justice League stories where the threat could destroy all of space and time. I like how the villain is utilizing magic, Green Lantern energy, and the Speed Force to move the Earth somewhere else because a dark force is going to come after the heroes and he wants to separate them from the rest of the univer. Could this coming threat have something to do with Rebirth? Is it Doc Manhattan or something specific to this book? We shall see.

Justice League (Volume 3) #16 Written by Bryan Hitch Art by Fernando Pasarin

Fernando Pasarin should be this book’s main artist going forward. He draws an incredible Justice League book. This issue ties back to the beginning of this series with the zodiac crystals and maybe even with Rebirth itself as the Timeless maybe related to Dr. Manhattan and his manipulation of the timeline? These timeless people have led to the League being stranded in different times. Barry Allen back to his origin, Wonder Woman in ancient greece, Aquaman in Ancient Atlantis, Cyborg in the time of the Legion, and the Green Lanterns in the 26th century. Meanwhile Batman and Superman are talking to some people who know about this…who is this group and what are they hiding? How does this relate to Rebirth? Why do the Timeless look like Brainiac? A lot of questions and I can’t wait to see how this plays out. I hope everyone’s Pre-Flashpoint memories are somehow restored.

Justice League (Volume 3) #1 Written by Bryan Hitch Art by Tony Daniel

This is the the first issue of Justice League after DC Rebirth and I have to say I was…underwhelmed. I ceratainly felt like I could come into this as a new reader (although there wasn’t much explanation of each character) and understand it but it was just another crazy disasters happening all over the world story. Although I know there is this Kindred subplot…I guess I expected something more. I mean maybe it is just after reading Detective Comics it just seemed like nothing happened in this single issue compared to what happens in every issue of that series.

Justice League (Volume 3) #2Written by Bryan HitchArt by Tony Daniel

I wish I could say that I was impressed with this issue but I really feel like not much happened here. They talked about the problems and then Batman went to go get Superman. That was really it…. hard to recommend a single issue if very little happens. All I kept thinking about was I miss Martian Manhunter. Talk about a character who has been screwed since Didio took over. He was the heart of the League and when I see him you think “Justice League.” Why the hell is he not on this team?

Justice League (Volume 3) #3 Written by Bryan Hitch Art by Tony Daniel

Now this was a bit better. This still seems decompressed but more happned here. It is the first I have seen of Lois since I started reading Rebirth so that was good although you would think by now she would be used to these kinds of things with her husband. I think Tony Daniel upped his ante on the art in this issue. I found myself enjoying quite a bit more than the previous issues. I wonder what the Kindred’s connection is with the League and these Zodiac Crystals.

Justice League (Volume 3) #4Written by Bryan HitchArt by Jesus Merino

Hitch is guilty of the “Brad Meltzer” trope of having the Justice Leaguers call each other by the real names all the time. Come on. Why in the hell would these new Green Lanterns know the Flash’s secret identity. Anyways, for some reason the Sigil of Truth showed up in ths issue so I imagine this storyline is going to go into an occulty direction which I am excited about. But this is seriously decompressed.

Justice League (Volume 3) #5Written by Bryan HitchArt by Tony Daniel

In this issue the Kindred say they are looking to bring about a Forever Crisis, and it was in bold. I think that was on purpose. Is Rebirth leading to another Crisis event? Or am I seeing things that are not there. Either way, I wouldn’t say I super enjoyed this first story arc of this series, but at least we got that interesting tidbit.

In the main story, Lamprey and Power Boy are put through a test and it seems like Cosmic Boy has decided they don’t have what it takes to join the Legion sadly. Jimenez’s art rocks and so does Levitz’s storytelling. In the backup Black Witch defeats Mordru although I can’t remember why she was fighting him to begin with. I really liked Borges’s art too.

I liked this issue much better. It was fun and easy to follow as the Legion Academy uses magic to remove the gene mod from a villain. Borges’s art is quite impressive and he seems to be a good storyteller. In the second story, Nigh Girl asks XS to help train the Legion Academy and in the process learn about Earth-Zero. I like that Levitz is following up on Final Crisis : Legion of 3 Worlds here. Levitz is a class act and a lover of continuity. XS declines the offer but is creating some kind of mosaic to honor her family and connects with the speed force having a vision of her running with Impulse and the Flash. Very cool! I have no idea where this is going but I like it.

Adventure Comics #527Written by Paul LevitzArt by Geraldo Borges

In this issue, Comet Queen explains her origins as a Legion Fan girl who deliberately gained powers in order to join the Legion and be with her crush, Bouncing Boy. She eventually graduates from Legion Academy only to be told she is joining the Legion of Substitute Heroes. During her time with the subs, her mind is erased by Saturn Queen and although most of memory has returned there are some things still missing. It was a fun straight forward issue that I enjoyed a lot. Levitz seems to really enjoy writing this character and I enjoyed reading about her.

In this issue, Cosmic King breaks into Legion headquarters and quickly knocks out the only Legionnaires around at this time – Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Girl, and Night Girl. Therefore it looks like in the next issue the Legion Academy will have to take him on. I felt that the art was a little weak this issue but it was otherwise good.

Adventure Comics #529Written by Paul LevitzArt by Geraldo Borges

Sadly this is the final issue of Adventure Comics. DC brought this historical title back only to get it pushed away by the dumb New 52. And sad this issue was. The Legion Academy defeats Cosmic King but only by losing one of their own – Variable Lad. Who I thought was one of the best of them! So sad. I am glad the Legion is back in the rebirth DCU and I hope we see more of these Legion Academy in the future.

It is fun to be reading Legion comics again, especially when Paul Levitz writes the book. He really loves these characters and puts so much story into every issue. This issue was packed with action, dialogue, and plot twists galore. This is a man who deserved to remain in charge of DC. I am a huge fan and I look forward to seeing where this storyline is going as Saturn Queen is now the big bad.

Sometimes I like Cinar’s art in this issue and sometimes I didn’t. Anyways, this was still packed to the brim with action and intrigue and we had great moments with the “weirder” Legionnaires like Quislet, Tellus, and Gates. This was a fun comic.

This is Yildiray Cinar’s last issue of the Legion and I just got to say Cinar had a great run! This issue improved on the last with more action and we even get to see some of my favorite Legionnaires like Gates and Tellus. I am not sure where this is all going with the three immortal worlds but I am loving the ride.

In this final issue of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Mon-El gives up the ring and Earth-Man sacrifices his life to save the Legion. It is sad to see this book go but I am so glad the Legion have been brought back with DC Rebirth. Paul Levitz had a great run here.

Booster Gold tells the story to his sister about his time in 25th century prison where he is cellmates with a man who is constantly fluctuating between time periods – the man is revealed to be a future version of Booster himself with “Chronal leprosy” which is actually really gross as drawn by Batista. Interesting issue. I enjoyed it I suppose.

Booster finds himself running into the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century which makes this a fun issue as Brainiac 5 works to cure Booster’ chronal leprosy. This was a fun issue. Giffen and Dematteis write some great dialogue between the legionaries and you can tell Batista had fun drawing them. I wonder if the dangling plot points will ever get solved as I believe the next issue begins a flashpoint crossover.

Booster Gold (Volume 2) #44Written by Dan JurgensArt by Jurgens

I was excited to read this issue despite it being a Flashpoint crossover (a mini-series I have never read and have no interest in reading considering it lead to the disgusting New 52) because I remember Dan Jurgens’s run on this book rather fondly. Jurgens’s art is as beautiful as always and he writes very well but damn I don’t really care about Flashpoint and could not get excited reading this issue. That being said, I love the shout outs to continuity about Coast City. Jurgens knows his continuity.

Booster Gold (Volume 2) #45Written by Dan JurgensArt by Jurgens

The Flashpoint crossover continues here as we learn the girl Booster saved has powers. Who is she suppose to be? I am not sure. I do not recognize her name. This was another good issue by Jurgens – as the man can draw and write like a champ. But I still find it hard to care because I hate flashpoint. Albeit, I am intrigued by the mystery girl.

This was a very forgettable issue. I am sad this is the penultimate issue because this series is usually great under Jurgens but this flashpoint crossover is uninteresting. I really don’t care about seeing Booster Gold fight Doomsday again.

First of all, Booster calls the Flash Barry in this issue. Why would Booster Gold call him by his first name like they are friends? His character knew Wally West as Flash for his entire career. Ugh. It’s bad enough Barry Allen had to take up most of the cover on the last issue of Booster’s series. Jurgens only drew the last few pages and Leonardi is okay but he is no Jurgens. This just seemed last filler when it should have been a series finale. Disappointed.

This is the 900th issues of Action Comics and we get a special 96-page issue to celebrate. Some great things here. I loved that they actually mention Superboy’s tactile telekenisis power which has been ignored since the days of Young Justice it seems sometimes. Anyways, Lex Luthor is now a God and shows Superman some of the most emotional moments in the Man of Steel’s history, and then Lex finds out that Clark Kent is Superman finally! I love that Cornell has Superman confirming that the Kents made him who he is today. That is something that has been lost since Johns took over the Superman franchise and overemphasized Superman’s kryptonian heritage. The issue also shows how fundamentally wrong Lex is about Superman’s nature believing that he isn’t capable of human emotion which is the exact opposite because in many ways Superman is more “human” than Lex is. With all this look back at the death of Superman, would it have killed them to have the Matrix Supergirl/Linda Danvers involved instead of or in additon to Kara? That angers me but whatever. Anyways, Lex Luthor projects universal happiness well literally universally and we see even Death of the endless feel it. That was a genius moment from Cornell. Lex then learns that he can keep his new Godlike power and never kill Superman or do anything negative or he must give it up. Lex being the villain that he is chooses the second option and loses his memory of Clark Kent being Superman and the ending leads to what I don’t think looks that great called Reign of the Doomsdays. The rest of the book are smaller stories celebrating the 900th issue. Paul Dini, Geoff Johns, and David Goyer’s stories stood out. I loved Brian Stelfreeze’s final page art too.

This continues the Reign of the Doomdays arc which is stupid but Cornell shows he is a good writer even when given a stupid story. The Doomslayer is a clever creation too. I wish there was just Jesus Merino on this issue though. It looks like The Eradicator may be dead.

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by this issue. Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Steel all work together and act like a real heroes. This is something that should happen on a regular basis and DC Comics but Paul Cornell really knocked it out of the park and had Superman not even want to have Doomsday die. I love that these are real heroes and I’m glad that they’re written that way.

Action Comics #903Written by Paul CornellArt by Alex Gimenez

This was a great issue with plenty of guest stars including the Justice League and the Teen Titans plus more I really enjoyed it and I was surprised by that. Paul Cornell is a good writer he knows how to create good suspense.

I’m very glad that DC is returning this book to its original numbering. This is the final issue before it relaunched under the new 52 Banner. It was a fantastic finale that it really showed Paul Cornell understands the character . I literally cheered out loud when Lois said Jonathan and Martha made Superman not Krypton. That was fantastic and it is the truth.